Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category

By Allen Payton

Golfballin’ is back at the Vineyards, now that Brandon Johnson and his father Lance have reopened the driving range on East 18th Street in Antioch.

After years with his Fore Two Your Door mobile golf truck, seen at both the Roddy Ranch Golf Club, Brentwood and other local golf courses, Brandon decided to open the range for golfers, once again. After months of renovations and improvements, golfers can practice their driving and putting from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, on the lighted range.

You won’t have to let the weather get in your way. Now known as Golfballin’ at the Vineyards, the driving range features covered stalls so you can stay dry on rainy days and in the shade on hot, sunny days. Plus, there’s a huge practice green, grass and sand bunkers, and a VIP teeing area where you can hit off real grass.

They offer sales of new and used clubs, plus they buy and trade, as well. The range includes a full repair shop with over 4,000 grips and 400 shafts in stock, and offers free basic fittings.

It’s also family friendly with a playground for kids and a snack bar, and allows for hosting events and parties, as well. Plus, they offer half-off for all local high school golf teams.

Golfballin’ is kind to your wallet, with buckets of balls from $5 to $20 and a limited number of memberships are available at $50 per month for unlimited balls.

“Stop by any day and bring the kids, give Mom a break, and enjoy some practice to make your golf game better,” Brandon stated. “We’re hear every day, rain or shine.”

The driving range is located at 2901 E. 18th Street, between Hillcrest and Highway 160, next to the actual award-winning wine vineyards.

Visiting their website at www.golfballin58.com, their Facebook page or Instagram, or by calling (925) 513-5660.

Antioch High School football has come off its most successful season in recent memory. It included three individually broken records in addition to a team feat that has not been reached in three decades.

For the first time since 1984, the Panthers won a North Coast Section Playoff game. In that contest, at San Leandro High on Nov. 14, sophomore sensation Najee Harris crushed the school record for rushing yards in a game that was set back in 1958 with 371 yards. The original record was 303 yards. In the middle of that match up, he also became the first Panther to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards in a season, and finished the campaign with a total of 2,263 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.

“I had a lot of favorite moments,” Harris said. “The most memorable one was when we were winning back-to-back games, and the school had hope in us, and every game you could the crowd getting bigger and bigger.”

Harris was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the Bay Valley Athletic League, and become to first sophomore to earn that recognition since the league formed in the mid-1990s.

Senior defensive end/linebacker Michael Gray also set a single-season school record for sacks with 20. He passed the original mark (17 set back in 1999) in that same competition against San Leandro High. The final score of that game was 50-26.

Junior linebacker Kobie Beltram is also on pace to break a school record. which is currently held by his older bother Markie, for career tackles on varsity. So far, he has recorded 211 tackles through 22 games. Needing to reach 252, at the rate of tackles he has been generating, he will exceed that in the next five games.

All of these things happened ensuing one of the worst seasons at Antioch High. Last year, the Panthers had a record of 1-9, and went winless against league opponents. This year, they went 7-5, and were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs to Foothill High.

“It had a lot to with the players, who were frustrated with how last year went, and put in hard work over the offseason to flip this program around,” coach John Lucido said.

NOTE: Antioch High was awarded an NCS Playoff victory back in 1997, but that was months after the game had already taken place via forfeit from the opposing team due to ineligible roster violations. This was the first time the Panthers outscored their competitor in the playoffs and advanced to the next round since 1984.

More than three dozen youth coaches were able to partake of more than a century of experience Saturday during the 2015 Antioch Sports Legends Alumni Baseball Coaches Clinic at the Antioch Historical Society building.

The staff, led by former major leaguers and Sports Legends Hall of Fame inductees Butch Rounsaville and Aaron Miles, covered aspects of catching, middle infield play, pitching, hitting, and the keys to being a successful coach.

“It’s great to give back to the Hall of Fame and the Historical Society,” said Miles, who played nine years in the major leagues. “It’s a great place to dedicate your time to, and any chance I get to do something to benefit that I want to.”

The rest of the clinic staff included Bobby Rounsaville, who played one season of pro baseball in Italy after playing at UC Davis; Chris Bodishbaugh, twice drafted by the Florida Marlins and currently the pitching coach at Los Medanos College; Steve Ward, head coach at Diablo Valley College for 15 years; and Craig Chipman, who has coached high school and college baseball for 20 years.

“I think it turned out great,” said Butch Rounsaville, a 2007 Hall of Fame inductee who pitched for the Chicago White Sox before an arm injury ended his career. “I think the instructors all did a good job and we had a good turnout. All the coaches seemed to get something out of it.”

During the lunch break, some of the coaches took an eye-opening tour of the Antioch Sports Legends Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is dedicated to preserving the historical achievements of outstanding male and female athletes from Antioch. The display, in the Historical Society Museum, 1500 W. 4th St., is open from 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. More than 100 athletes and teams have been enshrined in the hall, starting in 2007.

Miles, who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the 2006 World Series, taught two phases of the clinic, working with Bobby Rounsaville on middle infield play and solo on hitting. He and Rounsaville, who both played second base during their careers, spent an hour breaking down the basics of middle infield play, from which type of glove to use and the proper stance to movement around the bag on double plays.

“You want to know your audience,” Miles said. “You’re talking to coaches, and you don’t know if they’re coaching 9-year-olds or if they’re a college coach. All those things you know because you’ve played at a higher level, you want to still get those across without losing your audience.”

Bobby Rounsaville, part of the 1984 Antioch High baseball team inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013, also did a clinic on baserunning. Part of his presentation dealt with stealing bases and how to avoid being picked off.

“You have to get the pitcher to show you his best move,” he said.

Butch, who is Bobby’s uncle, countered that later, saying no self-respecting pitcher would show his best move first.

Butch Rounsaville and Bodishbaugh represented two different generations – Butch made his major league debut in 1970, while Bodishbaugh began his professional career in 2008 after playing quarterback at San Jose State University. But their approach to pitching is the same, from the mechanics of the motion to the grip on the ball. They also stressed that they would not recommend that coaches of younger players try to teach either a curve ball or a slider.

“The only time I would say it’s okay for a 12-year-old to throw a curve ball is if it’s that one-in-a-million chance that they have the perfect motion and the perfect release,” Rounsaville said. “If winning your game means your kid throwing curve balls, I say win your games later.”

Chipman, now an assistant coach at Los Medanos College, said he is delighted and honored to participate in clinics such as Saturday’s event.

“What’s most rewarding is that these guys are ambassadors of the sport,” Chipman said. “These guys are the reason I can make a living, and these guys are the future of our sport.”

Sign-ups will be held this week for T-ball, instructional and competitive baseball and softball for boys and girls age 4 to 12, and CHAMP Baseball (for challenged youth and young adults). Open to Antioch, Pittsburg, Oakley, Brentwood, Knightsen, Bethel Island, Discovery Bay and Byron youth.

Tour began on January 7th and concludes on Opening Day in San Francisco on April 13th

This will be the third public trophy tour held in the past four years and will feature the 2014, 2012 and 2010 trophies. The focus of the San Francisco Giants World Championship Trophy Tour presented by Bank of America is to share the trophies with Giants fans in Junior Giants communities throughout northern California.

Antioch is one of those Junior Giants communities, so the trophies will be here on Tuesday, January 27th in the Antioch Community Center at Prewett Park, 4703 Lone Tree Way, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“We saw in 2012 how powerful it was for us to create a trophy tour which not only allowed us to connect with our fans, but also with the more than 22,000 kids who participate in our Junior Giants baseball program. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to do so again,” said Larry Baer, Giants president and chief executive officer.

The organization is working in partnership with their Junior Giants leagues throughout northern California to create public viewing opportunities in the following cities throughout the months of January, February and March. Fans will have the chance to both have their photo taken with the trophies and support their local Junior Giants.

PERSONAL PHOTO POLICY

You will be allowed to take one (1) photo per person. If you come in a group, you can take a group photo or individual photo, but not both. Depending on volumes of fans and line control, personal camera use for photos with the trophies will be determined onsite. Fans will also have the opportunity to have a professional photo taken with the trophies and can purchase those prints onsite and online.

LINE POLICY

The Trophies will be on display for two hours during each stop. The Giants intend to accommodate as many fans as possible during the viewing time period. Fans are advised to arrive early as the line will be cut off, if needed, to allow the trophies to leave at the designated end time. A Giants representative will assess and determine a cutoff point in line. A fan who arrives during the designated viewing time is NOT automatically guaranteed a photo with the trophies. Fans are accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis.

In 2000, Major League Baseball commissioned Tiffany & Co. to create one of the most celebrated awards in all of sports: the World Series Trophy. The Commissioner of Baseball presents this trophy to the winning team of the annual World Series. The goal of greatness is crafted into every detail of this revered trophy:

The initial World Series trophy was created by Major League Baseball in 1967. The St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Boston Red Sox in seven games in the World Series that year, were the first World Series Champions to receive the trophy.

Trophy’s official name is “The Commissioner’s Trophy.” Each year, one full-sized trophy is crafted by Tiffany and awarded by the Commissioner of Baseball to the championship team.

Design features thirty pennants representing the teams in the American and National Baseball Leagues. The pennants encircle a dome base, which is etched with latitude/longitude lines symbolizing the globe and adorned with twenty-four karat gold vermeil applied stitches representing those on a baseball. Engraved on the base are the words, “Presented by the Commissioner of Baseball” along with the commissioner’s signature.

Sterling silver trophy weighs approximately 20 pounds and stands 24 inches high with a diameter of 11 inches.

Tiffany & Co. also creates the World Series MVP Trophy, presented to the Most Valuable Player of the World Series; the All-Star Home Run Derby Trophy, awarded by Major League Baseball to the winner of the Home Run Derby during All-Star Week; and the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award which is awarded at the Commissioner’s discretion. Previous winners include Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, Roger Clemens, Ichiro Suzuki and Rachel Robinson.

Tiffany & Co. creates trophies for many of the world’s greatest sporting events. These designs include the National Basketball Association Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the National Football League, and the U.S. Open Tennis Championship Trophies. Inspired by the transcendent form and energy of competition, these outstanding Tiffany designs are a lasting tribute to the athletes’ dedication and the thrill of victory.

SAN FRANCISCO – A group of Bay Area business, sports and civic leaders has put together a preliminary proposal for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), which has decided to put forward a U.S. city to host the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2024.

The USOC board of directors announced on Tuesday, December 16, that it has unanimously approved a U.S. bid to host the 2024 Games. San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., remain under consideration, with the selection of a U.S. bid city to be made in early 2015.

The decision came after representatives from each of the four cities presented plans to the USOC board of directors following six months of collaborative discussions regarding the technical elements required to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Those discussions will continue in the weeks ahead as the USOC moves toward announcing a candidate city.

“We are excited to announce our plans to put forth a bid for the 2024 Games and look forward to taking the next step of selecting from a group of four world-class cities to present a compelling and successful bid,” said USOC Chairman Larry Probst. “We’re grateful to the civic and political leaders in each of the four cities for the partnership that’s been demonstrated thus far, and confident that the deliberative process we’ve put in place is going to result in a strong U.S. bid that can truly serve the athletes and the Olympic and Paralympic movements.”

The IOC will select the host of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2017.

For the past several months, a group of local boosters has been laying the groundwork for a San Francisco bid, led by San Francisco Giants President & CEO Larry Baer, U.S. Olympian Anne Warner Cribbs, and entrepreneur and non-profit leader Steve Strandberg.

“We believe a San Francisco Bay Area Olympic and Paralympic Games would be an enormous success, and would benefit the region, the nation and the Games themselves, well beyond 2024,” Baer said. “Our region is renowned for connecting the world in new ways every day and we are ready to put that spirit and ingenuity to work for the Games.”

Infrastructure for large-scale sporting events and public gatherings has increased in the Bay Area in recent years, with new facilities at Cal and Stanford, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, an expanding Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, the San Jose Earthquakes Stadium currently being constructed, and a new arena planned for the Golden State Warriors in the city’s Mission Bay neighborhood.

These and many other facilities around the Bay Area would be considered for the Games, Baer said, but organizers have not yet released a venue plan.Baer, Cribbs and Strandberg have put together a team of volunteer organizers and are meeting with community leaders around the region, building support and making a case for why the Bay Area is a perfect showcase for the Olympic and Paralympic Games – and vice versa.

“With cultural values and a welcoming environment that embody the global mission of the Games, San Francisco is uniquely positioned to show the Olympics, the nation, and the region in the best possible light,” said Cribbs, a gold-medalist swimmer in the 1960 Olympics and CEO of the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC). “We have the opportunity to put our unique stamp on the Games and inspire a new generation of American youth to pursue sports and fitness, while embracing the Olympic spirit of international friendship and cross-cultural exchange.”

The San Francisco organizers point to the enduring legacies of previous games in international destination cites like Barcelona, Sydney and London, and pledge that the Bay Area would enjoy lasting infrastructure and financial benefits as well.

“Hosting the Games would galvanize the Bay Area around some of our most pressing challenges,” Strandberg said. “In preparing for the Olympics, we would pull together to produce thousands of units of new affordable housing, improve our transportation systems, create new jobs, and establish new parks and recreational facilities – all of which will remain long after the Closing Ceremony.”

Cribbs, a native of Menlo Park, who earned her gold as a member of a relay team, emphasized teamwork.

“The region’s large and active family of Olympians and Paralympians will be involved in all aspects of the Bay Area’s efforts to host the 2024 Games,” she said. “When we get the entire Bay Area community pulling together in the same direction, we can do great things.”

The International Olympic Committee’s deadline for 2024 bid submissions is Sept. 15, 2015, with the host city to be determined in 2017. The timeline for the 2024 bidding process was announced during the IOC Extraordinary Session in early December, during which time the Olympic Agenda 2020 was finalized. Among the 40 recommendations – which were all unanimously approved – the reform package allows for a more flexible and cost-effective bidding process.

“All four cities have presented plans that are part of the long-term visions for their communities,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “At our request, and because of the preliminary nature of our discussions, the cities have not spoken about their bids publicly in great detail. That will be an important part of the process after we make our selection in January.”

The U.S. has not hosted the summer edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games since 1996 (Atlanta). St. Louis hosted in 1904 and Los Angeles held the Games in both 1932 and 1984.

BART is gearing up to carry hundreds of thousands of baseball fans to downtown San Francisco on Friday, October 31 to celebrate the Giants World Series Championship. BART will run its rush hour service all day–using every available train possible. To ensure that everyone can get home safely, trains will run until 2AM. Trains to and from the city will be at maximum length and frequency.

About 100 extra BART employees in yellow vests will be stationed throughout the system to help with crowd control and to assist passengers. BART Police will have extra patrols and extra train technicians were also on hand just in case. Ticket sales tables will be set up at Fremont, Dublin, Bay Point and Millbrae stations to help speed up ticket purchases.

Large crowds are expected and passengers should anticipate long lines and crowded trains. BART will have additional staff on hand to help customers who need assistance and offer crowd control. BART officials are urging fans to buy their round-trip tickets or load up their Clipper® cards before Friday’s ticker tape parade in San Francisco.

Travel Tips

BART wants everyone to have fun and get to the parade safely. New riders need to know that everyone who rides BART needs a BART ticket or Clipper card to enter the system.

Here are other Giants parade day tips:
o Load your Clipper card with extra value or, if buying a BART ticket, purchase a round trip ticket before parade day.
o Avoid peak commute hours (6AM-9AM and 4PM-6PM).
o If possible, leave your bike at home or double lock your bike at the station. Trains will be very crowded.
o Allow extra time to get to San Francisco before the parade begins at 12 Noon.
o Parking rules and restrictions will be enforced. Consider getting to the station by alternative means such as carpooling, walking, biking (and parking your bike at the station) or taking a bus, as parking lots will fill up very early. Do not park in permit spaces if you don’t have a permit. (Even if you have a reserved space, we cannot guarantee eager fans won’t park there—we will be ticketing).
o Plan your trip using the BART QuickPlanner but for the most accurate information about the added service, use Real Time Departures.
o You can get automated BART Service Advisories (BSA) on your phone. BART offers both email and text options. To sign up for BSAs, please visit us at www.bart.gov/alerts.
o For on-demand service information, you can use our mobile site m.bart.gov or request BART real time departures, service advisories and more via text message. To get started text “BART go” to 468311 or jump right in and text “BART” + your station name. We’ll text you back in seconds. Follow us on Twitter @sfbart for news or @sfbartalert for automated service advisories.

RANDOLPH, MASSACHUSETTS – RE Ranger, a high-performance eyewear made for the shooting sport enthusiast, is proud to sponsor Alex Wampler of Antioch. The RE Ranger shooting eyewear line is produced by American based company Randolph Engineering.

Alex was born and raised in Antioch, California and started shooting at age 12 with her father. Currently working through college to become a veterinarian, Wampler is also a Hunting Guide at Birds Landing Hunting Preserve and Sporting Clays, across the river from Antioch.

ACCOLADES INCLUDE:

2013 World English Sporting Championships – Ladies 2nd

2013 NSCA Nationals – Ladies 3rd

2013 US Open FITASC – Lady Champion

2013 National Tour Lady Champion

2013 NSCA Lady Captain, Team USA Sporting

Nationals Lady High Over All Sub-Gauge Champion (last three years)

California State Lady Champion – multiple years

Western Regional Lady Champion – multiple years

NSCA Lady All-American – seven years

“Ranger has been sponsoring the sport’s top talent across the country for years. We pride ourselves in having a strong roster of sponsored shooters and believe Alex is a great addition,” said Peter Waszkiewicz, president and CEO of Randolph Engineering. “It’s exciting to be so involved in this growing sport and an honor to have these skilled shooters represent our brand as they continue their passion.”

Alex Wampler at the 2014 World FITASC in Portugal – Fédération Internationale de Tir aux Armes Sportives de Chasse. It is a type of shotgun sport shooting similary to sporting clays, trap and skeet.

ABOUT RANDOLPH ENGINEERING, INC.

Famed for its extreme durability and classic styles, Randolph eyewear is meticulously MADE in the USA using only the finest materials. Its sunglasses, optical frames, and shooting eyewear come with a lifetime warranty on the solder joints. As a further testament to its quality, Randolph is proud to have supplied sunglasses to the US Military and Air Forces world-wide since 1982.